Following the ​Yellow Brick Road

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Wall Mural from Amazon

The road to the City of Emeralds is paved with yellow brick," said the Witch,"so you cannot miss it."The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Books have always been my friends. Once I learned to read, I pounced on almost any book I could find and became its friend. I was always shy and rather timid, and my only sister was much older than me (sorry sis, but I have to be truthful here). So I spent a lot of time alone and books became my friends.

Even before I learned to read, I made some really good friends. My mother introduced me to the stories about Oz, written by L. Frank Baum. When I mentioned to people that I was writing an article about the Oz books, I often got this reaction: "I didn't know there was more than one book." This only served to reinforce my decision to discuss the series of books and the impact they had on my imagination.

Probably one of the most widely celebrated anniversaries in 2009 was the 70th anniversary of the release of the movie The Wizard of Oz. I was not one of those celebrating however. I have never liked the movie, mostly because it does not stay true to the story. The most disturbing difference is the ending where Dorothy's adventures turn out to be a dream. The other books tell us that it was not a dream, and Dorothy returned to have many more adventures in this fairy land.

Come along with me and I will introduce you to my friends.

These are pictures of old Oz books just like the ones my mother read to me. They are on display at the Oz Museum in Wamego, Ks.

Those Wonderful Bedtime Stories

Original title page illustration via Wikimedia Commons.

When I was a child, my mother, like many parents, read to me at bedtime. The books she usually chose were from the series of Oz books written by L. Frank Baum, as well as some others he wrote such as Dot and Tot in Merryland. She had also read them to her younger brother and sister as well as my older sister.

I couldn't wait to be old enough to read them myself. Our books were old and the bindings were worn. They had beautiful illustrations that helped to transport the reader to the world of Oz and the many unusual characters that lived there. Alas, the books I kept after leaving home were destroyed in a flood in the basement of a house we were living in and I have them no more.

But I have the memories of those bedtime trips into the imagination. The visuals they created live with me even today, and the symbols that resonate with me often appear in my inner shamanic journeys, like old friends who have come to show me the way.

I have re-read the stories one by one, and once again discovered the richness and depth that live within each book. While re-reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I was again amazed at how far from the story the movie had strayed. How sad that so many people today only know of the land of Oz through a movie that has taken creative license and morphed the original into something else entirely.

Artwork in the Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Dorothy meets the cowardly lion. Illustration by W.W Denslow and is in the public domain.

The beautiful illustrations in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz were drawn by W.W. Denslow. Besides working on this project together, he illustrated several other books of Baum's; Father Goose: His Book and Dot and Tot in Merryland. However, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was the first and last book that Winslow illustrated in the Oz series. He and Frank Baum has a disagreement about royalties and they dissolved the partnership. Winslow continued to illustrate other children's books and was quite successful. He even bought an island and crowned himself King Denslow I.

However, when his career started to decline, he started drinking and died at the age of 58 of pneumonia. For more information about William Denslow, I recommend reading "The Man Behind the Man Behind Oz: W. W. Denslow at 150" by Michael Patrick Hearn. One piece of trivia I found particularly interesting. "In almost every design could be found his totem-a tiny seahorse/" You can see it on the left hand corner of the picture of the cowardly lion. For a better look, see an enlarged picture at Wikipedia.

Wizard of Oz Illustrated Series available at Amazon.

A Kindle version of all 14 Oz books plus a bonus book. Kindle was not something that was available in my day, but I couldn't live without it now.

This collection contains all of the original illustrations as well. The reviews of both text and quality of images is very positive. You can also buy a Kindle version of each book for free, but this would be my choice just for the pictures.

Who Was L. Frank Baum?

Photo of Frank Baum from Wikimedia Commons

How does one begin to describe someone as unique and inspiring as Lyman Frank Baum? I suppose one could start with the basics, birth, life and death information. And I will, but as this information is covered in great detail elsewhere, I want to focus on what inspired the creativity it took to create a whole world called Oz.

According to Wikipedia, Lyman Frank Baum was born Born in Chittenango, New York on May 15, 1856. Not liking his first name, he went by his middle name of Frank. His parents were quite wealthy and he lived on a large estate called Rose Lawn.

Frank was a sickly child and was prone to daydreaming (first sign of a creative mind). He was schooled by private tutors until one day, at age 12, his parents decided to send him to military school. It was a miserable experience and he only lasted two years. Actually, two years is probably very good if you know anything about military schools. If this was an attempt to "toughen" him up, it didn't work.

So Frank came home, and with his brother, started writing the Rose Lawn Journal with the printing press his father bought for him. (Parents tend to do things like that. My parents bought me a tape recorder when I expressed an interest in writing.) He also wrote a stamp collecting journal.

Frank also had an interest in theater and in 1880 his father bought him a theater (now that is where it is handy to have rich parents). He wrote plays, wrote songs, and put together his own theater company.

In 1882, Frank married Maud Gage, a daughter of Matilda Joslyn Gage, a radical feminist and suffragette. Did this have anything to do with the fact that there are so many strong female characters in his books, like Dorothy, Ozma, Glinda, and General Jinjur, who took over the Emerald City using knitting needles? I don't know, but it might have since Maud's mother lived with them for a time.

The South Dakota Years

Abandoned farm near Syracuse, Kansas via Library of Congress

In 1888, Frank and Maud moved to Aberdeen in the Dakota Territory. There he opened a variety store called "Baum's Bizarre." As a businessman, Frank was not very successful and the store eventually went bankrupt. He then became the editor of the The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer.

It has been suggested that Baum's description of Kansas in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was based on the experience of living in drought-ridden South Dakota. I've lived in western Kansas for many years and I can totally relate to this description.

"When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else."(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)

Today Kansas is not really gray. It has a myriad of soft colors, green, gold, browns and there are clusters of trees on the prairie. The farther west you go toward Colorado, the flatter the land becomes, and you really do see the edge of the sky in all directions. However, during the Dust Bowl years of the 1930's, everything was covered in gray dust.

These years were significant in more ways than one, and I will discuss this later.

The Marvelous Land of Oz

Jack Pumpkinhead's Ride Poster, artwork by John R. Neill. Available at Amazon.

The Marvelous Land of Oz, sometimes shortened to The Land of Oz, was the second book Baum wrote in the series, although he wrote many others under both his name and other pen names. It is not one of my favorites, but it is important because it sets the stage for the books to follow. It gives some important history and follows up on what happened after Dorothy went back to Kansas.

The story involves a boy named Tip who was raised by an evil witch named Mombi. Tip makes a man out of a pumpkin head to scare her, but she instead tries out a new magic powder she just bought and the pumpkin head figure comes alive. Tip has named him Jack Pumpkinhead and together they run away from Mombi and head for the Emerald City.

The Scarecrow is now the ruler of Oz and lives in the Emerald City. But a young woman named Jinjur overthrows the Scarecrow with an army of women armed with knitting needles. The Scarecrow and his new friends join up with the Tin Woodman and go to Glinda the Good Witch for help.

Quite a few fantastic creatures show up in this story, which ends with the surprising return of the real ruler of Oz, a young girl named Ozma. But you'll have to read the story to find out how that happens"That proves you are unusual," returned the Scarecrow, "and I am convinced that the only people worthy of consideration in this world are the unusual ones. For the common folks are like the leaves of a tree, and live and die unnoticed." (The Scarecrow's remark to the Jack the Pumpkinhead)

The Marvelous Land of Oz (Books of Wonder) from Amazon

Although all of the Oz books are available for free both as e-books or to be read on-line, some people enjoy having an actual book to hold in their hands. This hardcover version is special because it is a reproduction of the rare first edition, complete with all 16 original color plates, a colorful pictorial binding, and over 125 of John R Neill's drawings.

Baum and Family Move to ChicagoAnd the Inspiration for the Emerald City

In 1891, Frank suffered another business failure, the folding of his newspaper. He decided to move his growing family, now with four sons, to Chicago. There he held a variety of jobs including a newspaper reporter, editing a magazine that focused on department store displays, and a traveling salesman selling chinaware.

He also started writing short stories. A collection these stories, Mother Goose in Prose, was published in 1897. He also produced Father Goose: His Book, with artwork by artist William Denslow. This was such a success that they went on to produce The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which provided Baum with enough money that he could devote himself full time to writing.

It has been said that Baum got his idea for the Emerald City from the White City of the World Columbian Exposition which opened in 1893. After viewing some pictures, I can see why he was entranced with it. Westinghouse won the bid for lighting up the exposition with Tesla's alternating current, beating out General Electric with Edison's direct current light bulbs. (My husband will find that interesting so I thought I'd throw it in).

The First Wizard of Oz Musical

"The wizard of Oz" Musical Theatre Poster Postcard by LanternPress

hose who think the Judy Garland film was the first of its kind might be surprised to find out that in 1902 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was adapted to a theatrical musical which toured the United States. As I mentioned earlier, Baum had a great interest in theater. He collaborated with the illustrator W.W. Denslow and composer Paul Tietjens to write a script for a musical based on the book.

As happens all too often, the original script was taken over by others and totally rewritten. The resulting "musical extravaganza" bore little resemblance to Baum's book. Baum was understandably upset by this but as the production grew ever more popular, he changed his perspective. As he stated in a letter to the Chicago Tribune, "I acknowledge that I was unwise enough to express myself as dissatisfied with the handling of my play on its first production ... few authors of successful books are ever fully satisfied with the dramatization of their work. They discern great gaps in the original story that are probably never noticed by playgoers."

He added, "The people will have what pleases them, and not what the author happens to favor," and declared that in any future productions "I mean to profit by the lesson Mr. Mitchell has taught me and sacrifice personal preference to the demands of those I shall expect to purchase admission tickets."

Baumwenton to write more plays and musicals but none were as successful as the first one. The decision to cater to the demands of the public and lower his standards of writing led not only to financial failures but also crept into the writing of several of his later books. (Source:L. Frank Baum: Creator of Oz: A Biographyby Katharine M. Rogers)

Though I have been adamantly opposed to the changes made in the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie, I feel that Baum himself would be thrilled at the long-lived success it has enjoyed. Baum's wife Maud attended the premiere of the movie which was held at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

Ozma of Oz

Dorothy and Hen, by John R. Neill Poster at Amazon

The third book in the series, Ozma of Oz, is probably my favorite.

In this tale, Dorothy is swept overboard during a storm while on a ship bound for Australia with her Uncle Henry. She survives by climbing into a chicken coop that also was blown overboard. When the storm subsides, she finds she shares the coop with a talking chicken named Billina.

So begins the next adventure. Dorothy surmises that she is not in Oz, since Oz is surrounded by a poisonous desert. It is another magical country named Ev. They meet a mechanical man named Tik-Tok, who tells how the royal family of Ev are being held captive by the Nome King. The Land of Ev is being ruled by the vain and selfish Princess Langwidere who has 30 different heads, all with different styles and colors of hair. She changes her head to suit her whim, and each also has a different personality. One might think that would be frightening to children, but I found it fascinating. Imagine being able to change your appearance every day.

BY THE AID OF THE MIRROR SHE PUT ON THE HEAD by John R R Neill

"Of course the thirty heads were in great variety, no two formed alike but all being of exceeding loveliness. There were heads with golden hair, brown hair, rich auburn hair and black hair; but none with gray hair. The heads had eyes of blue, of gray, of hazel, of brown and of black; but there were no red eyes among them, and all were bright and handsome. The noses were Grecian, Roman, retrousse and Oriental, representing all types of beauty; and the mouths were of assorted sizes and shapes, displaying pearly teeth when the heads smiled. As for dimples, they appeared in cheeks and chins, wherever they might be most charming, and one or two heads had freckles upon the faces to contrast the better with the brilliancy of their complexions."(Ozma of Oz)

It was Dorothy's misfortune that the princess decided to add her head to her collection. She is locked up in a tower until she is rescued by Ozma (whom you remember is the rightful ruler of Oz), her friends, and her army, who had traveled from Oz to rescue the Queen of Ev and her family.

This is one of those images that has stayed with me for years. When my daughter was small, I took her to the local beauty school for a haircut. She saw the mannequin heads that displayed different wigs, and asked me why they cut people's heads off. I reassured her, of course, but couldn't help remembering the princess who loved to collect different heads.

The story continues with a trip to the Nome King's underground palace. It seems the Nome King has turned the royal family of Ev into bric-a-brac (I just love that word, so much more descriptive than knickknack, which is what it means of course). With much luck and ingenuity, as well as a surprise weapon, the group manages to rescue Queen Ev and her family. I will not give that part away, but since reading of the palace filled with people who have been turned into ornaments, I have never looked at a knickknack in quite the same way. Who knows what secrets may be locked within a simple vase, statue, or paperweight?

Ozma of Oz Tile by Grannysagedesigns at Zazzle

Ozma is the rightful ruler of Oz and is portrayed as a young girl, about 14 or 15. Baum was inconsistent in creating her history, saying at first she is the daughter of the previous King, and later saying she is a fairy. Where she came from really does not matter, for the reader is sure to fall in love with her.

Continue Dorothy's journey through the magical lands of EV and Oz and meet the Nome King, Billina the hen, and the amazing Tik-Tok. This is deluxe facsimile of the rare first edition, featuring forty-two of John R. Neill's full-color plates and twenty-one two- color illustrations.

Return to Oz Movie

Return to Oz DVD at Amazon

You might have seen a movie called Return to Oz, which was released by Disney in 1985. It is actually based on two of the books, Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz. As a result, it seems like a poorly assembled puzzle to me. I showed it to my children when they were young and my son tells me now that he found it frightening. I wouldn't show it to small children under five.

The movie never did well financially, but now has become somewhat of a cult classic. It gets pretty good reviews at Amazon. One reviewer noted that If you enjoy cult classics, then Return to Oz is a must for your collection.

But I'm more of a purist and prefer the movies to follow the books. It would be the same if the Harry Potter movies were a cut and paste of different books. It would just not make sense. I also remember trying to convince my sister to watch Lord of the Rings because she was afraid the hobbits wouldn't look like hobbits.

So I don't recommend buying the movie, but if you are curious you can watch it by sequences on You-Tube. I've included an excerpt below provide a rather creepy depiction of Princess Langwidere's many heads. In the movie she is called Princess Mombi, which is actually the name of the witch in The Land of Oz.

The Baums Move to California

Ozcot in Hollywood, California

For most of his life, Frank suffered from heart problems. For years they had been spending the winters in southern California.

In 1910, as his health continued to fail, Frank and his wife moved to Hollywood, CA. The Hollywood in that day was a small town surrounded by orange and lemon groves. There he built a two story home he called "Ozcot" which had a very large garden. Frank loved to spend time in his garden and became a notable horticulturist. He also raised many exotic birds.

Sadly, Ozcot was torn down after Maud died and a very uninspiring apartment complex now sits in its spot.

It was not surprising that Frank would become interested in the movie industry that was blossoming right in his neighborhood. He formed the Oz Film Manufacturing Company and made several films based on the Oz books. These were not as successful as the books and he suffered from financial problems for many years.

Frank and his wife love to travel and visited Europe often. They also spent a lot of time at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, CA. He wrote several of his books while living there and even designed the crown-shaped chandelier in the formal dining room. It is said that he based some of his later descriptions of the Emerald City on this fantastic hotel.

Where Can I Read the ​Oz books for Free?

Don't Worry, There is More

Cropped from original image by W. W. Denslow.

Don't you hate it when a TV show ends its season with a cliffhanger and you have to wait all summer to find out what happened? Or even worse, when movies are made in trilogies and you have to wait a year or more to see the next one?

Well, I am afraid it is the same here. There is just so much to say about Frank Baum and the Oz books that it just doesn't fit into one article. I have decided to break it up into several articles.

In Part 2, called "Oz--Oz! more about Oz, Mr. Baum!"you will get to meet the Wizard again, find out how Dorothy finds her way back to Oz yet again, and learn about L Frank Baum's spiritual beliefs. Of course, you will also get to meet more of the unusual characters who inhabit Oz.

I would love to hear your thoughts about the story so far. Did you know there was more than one book? Are you a fan of the Judy Garland movie? Sadly, comments are not enabled on this page. Never fear! I have written a blog post about the wonders of Oz. I invite you to grab on to the nearest tornado and visit"Growing Up With the Oz Books."You may leave your comment there and I will reply as soon as possible.

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